Richmond Hill lies in the watershed of the Don River which rises in the
hills in the northern part of Vaughan Township in York County. The east
branch of the Don has its origin in many springs around Richmond Hill
and towards Maple.

The surface of this part of the country displays a pattern of parallel
ridges and hollows running in the general direction north west to south
east. The valleys are U-shaped with flat floors.

The bed rock is covered to a depth of hundreds of feet by material
deposited by the three glaciers which covered this.part of the country. The
many large gravel and sand deposits are evidences of the glacial age.
The rock formation is a sedimentary deposit of great age,and is called
Dundas which is a type of shale, and produces the clay soil prevalent in the
district.

To the North and West of Richmond Hill there is a stretch of Pontypool
sand, about 1,000 acres. It is a brownish,sandy loam deposited by the glacier,
and the top soil in many places is three feet deep. To the south of
this between Richmond Hill and Maple is Brighton sand.It has more lime
and is of a lighter color. Both areas were covered with mixed hardwood and
evergreens. Both grow fine potatoes.

South from this we find Milliken sandy loam. This soil is a loam,with
clay, silt, sand, small stones and boulders in its makeup. The top soil is
crumbly, easy to work and of a dark, rich color. In this area lie the best
farms of the district.

To the south of the David Dunlap Observatory, Lot 41,Markham, is a deposit
of Colwood loam. This is a deep black top soil, and there are some market
gardens in this area for which it is very suitable.

The first Indians of which anything is known were Senecas, who settled
near Toronto around 1666 to protect their hunting grounds. They seem to
have used the Humber and Rouge Rivers to travel to Lake Simcoe. About the
year 1700 the Senecas gave way to the Mississaugas. Remains of an Indian
camp-site have been found where the Don crosses Yofigehurst, below Richmond
Hill,on Lot 43 Vaughan.

When the first white man came to Richmond Hill in 1794, there was an
Indian grave just inside the present cemetery. It had a small hut above it
made of cedar logs tapered to a peak. Mr. Stegman, a land surveyor who did
much of the surveying between Lakes Ontario and Simcoe, employed about
twenty Indians who had their camp around Elgin Mills. It is interesting to
note that Mr.Leslie McNair who farms on Lot 25, Concession 2 Vaughan, west
of Elgin Mills has a collection of Indian relics which he has found while
cultivating the soil. The Indian name for the Don was Michinquakokonk.
Governor Simcoe named it the Don after the river in England of that name.

The original forest covering in this area consisted of ріпе, beef,
iron, wood, hickory, cedar, elm, ash, hard and soft maple, white and red oak, birch
basswood, cherry and tamarac. The valley of the small stream that ran through
Elgin Mills, and the east side of Richmond Hill was a cedar swamp. Around
Church and Centre Sts. E. was said to be quite swampy. Early maps show a
black ash swamp, from the foot of the hill, Lot 44 on the map to below lot
40. Many beautiful specimens of elm and maple still remain in the district.
Trees interfering with land improvement,the forest was rapidly cleared, and
as much of the timber was used locally several mills were erected to cut
the lumber. There were also mills of a more specified nature, where things
necessary to the settler were made, such as pails, handles, barrels, farm,
machinery, pumps, baskets, sash and doors, shingles etc. were made.

Another product of the forest in early days was Potash. Mr. Abner Miles
ran a large ashery on lot 45, Vaughan. He also bought and shipped potash to
Montreal, the price ranging from $8 to $10 a barrel. In 1850 Vaughan was
more than 50$ cleared, and Markham 35$. The mills fell into disuse from
failing water power or vanishing timber.

Much of the timber was consumed as firewood,the early houses being heated
by large fireplaces in each room. Only body wood was used then. By 1820
stoves came into use and they also consumed great quantities of firewood.
A large amount was used for commercial purposes. Brick kilns were fired by
wood. A large brick yard was at the corner of Richmond and Trench streets.

The bake shop behind the store at the corner of Yonge and Dufferin Sts.,
the Brewery in the hollow west of Trench St. where the water tower now
stands, the five blacksmiths, and any place using a stationary engine, all
helped to use up the fuel.

In Richmond Hill, Lot 46 was for many years known as the Wood Lot, where
the owner allowed any one to cut fuel for their own use.

Wood was also used for corduroy roads, and these stretched below Richmond
Hill and above. A plank road was built about 1850 from Elgin Mills
east through Markham Township to the sixth concession and then south for
four miles.

For early house building pine would seem to have been the usual kind of
timber chosen, with oak being chosen for the door sills and steps.

Hickory was used for the manufacture of axe and hammer handles, while
beech was used for ox yokes.

Carriage building was developed to a fine art in Richmond Hill. About
1858 Wm. Trench 3rd, who with his father, Wm. Trench 2nd, had operated a blacksmith
shop at Elgin Mills, opened a carriage factory on the South East corner of Yonge and Lome Sts. Rock elm, white ash, hickory and ironwood were woods used in this factory. This is where the stage coaches which ran on
Yonge St. were built.

Panning mills were made st Richmond Hill, first at the Southwest corner
of Richmond and Yonge Sts., later back near the waterworks. Patterson Bros.,
started their Agricultural Implement Factory on the site of the first
Panning Mill Factory, moving later to Don Head, or as it was known then Patterson
village, between concessions 2 and 3 Maple Road where they built a village
which lasted until 1890,when the factory was moved to Woodstock, Ont.

Maple sugar and syrup were early cash crops, but as the forest vanished
production dropped, although this is still carried on to some extent by
descendants of pioneers in this district particularly by the Baker families.

The Don, like all rivers and creeks in Southern Ontario was subject to
Spring and Fall floods. In 1855 the saw mill at German Mills was destroyed
by flood. In 1850 on April 6th, many of the mills on the Don were washed
away or so badly damaged that they were not rebuilt. On Sept. 13th, 1878
and again in 188I and 1885 there were serious floods, but by the latter date
the remaining mills had converted to steam. Salmon used to come up the east
branch of the Don as far as Thornhill, no records exist of catches above
there. Any water in this area is not now sufficient to supply fishing
except in planted ponds.

Woodland and field held a great many kinds of wild life in the early days
Beaver, porcupine, timber wolves, black bears, marten, fisher, wolverine, otter,
Canada lynx, wapiti and cougar all were present when the early settlers
arrived, but have long since disappeared. Red fox, skunk and cottontail are
increasing. The little cottontail rabbit is a newcomer to the district in
the last 80 years (nearly 90 years when this was re-written in 1957). They
were brought from England by the Cook family who were ardent hunters, and
lived at the Carrville Mill farm. (As told by Mrs.Wm.Rumble to her family.
Mrs. Rumble worked for the Cooks in the 1860's.)

The Jack rabbit was plentiful about 1935, but seems to have disappeared.
In recent years deer have frequently been seen, as well as the occasional
wolf.

More than 300 species of birds have been seen in the area. The passenger
pigeon nested in the hills northwest of Richmond dill, but since 1884 none
seem to have been seen. Pheasants have been introduced, and a short open
season is allowed each year, butt no hunting is allowed in the first concession
of either Markham or Vaughan.

There are no known mineral deposits of any sort in the area. Large sand
and, gravel pits occur between concessions 3 and 4 Maple Road.

There are many springs in the area, and flowing wells are quite common.
The water is quite hard and contains much calcium and iron. About 1930, a
man drilling for water on Yongehurst Rd. struck a small pocket of gas which
petered out after 9 months use.

The area around Richmond Hill may be termed Rural-Urban. There has developed
gradually since World War I and more rapidly since War 2 subdividing
of many farms into residential areas, but agriculture still has its place,
and the farms of the district are largely devoted to the production of
fluid milk for the Toronto market.

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